Meeting Women Who Were Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II

We’re continuing our series looking back at the life of Eileen Horner Blakely, who died December 30th at the age of 96.

Eileen met her husband, Walter Earl Blakely, during the Korean War. She was serving in the Navy in Washington, DC. He was a career Navy man, and retired in 1953. She was discharged the same year, after serving a total of five years in the military.

We’re continuing our series looking back at the life of Eileen Horner Blakely, who died December 30th at the age of 96.

Eileen was one of the women who took advantage of the GI Bill, which had passed in 1944 before her first tour of service ended. It had always been her dream to attend college. She took a few night courses at George Washington University, while in Washington D.C., but as soon as she signed the papers to leave the WAVES, she went to Kent State University in Ohio to study Business Administrative Economics.

Her time with the WAVES was not up though. Eileen re-enlisted in 1951 during the Korean War and volunteered for a two-year term. She was again stationed in Washington D.C. and doing Yeoman’s work, except this time as a chief.

“A chief, you know, has privileges in enlisted cafeterias and stuff and mess halls. And so you go to the head of the line, and that always bothered me. But one time I was just kind of staying back, you know. And one of the other chiefs said, “You get up here” (laughs). So I did.”

…….

One of the highlights of her service was doing research for Captain Walter Karig, who was writing a book about the Korean War. Her name is listed in the book as a contributor.

She had planned to stay on with the WAVES permanently, but in May of 1952 she met her husband, Walter, they married in August, and she left the WAVES for good in 1953. When his service obligations ended, they moved to the West Coast, where Walter had family. Eileen now lives in Grants Pass, Oregon.

Karig’s book, where Chief Yeoman Ethel Eileen Horner is listed as a part of his staff.

We’re continuing our series looking back at the life of Eileen Horner Blakely, who died December 30th at the age of 96.

Eileen was positioned in the Bureau of Ships as a “flying squadron,” or a temporary, so she was continually being moved from project to project. World War II ended in August 1945 and though the WAVES were originally supposed to be kept for duration plus six months, Eileen and others stayed on much longer.

In July 1946, Eileen was assigned to work on Operation Crossroads. This was a military mission to test nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands. At that time very little was known about how nuclear weapons were created and Eileen remembers hearing terms such as “nuclear engineer” for the first time that summer.

We’re continuing our series looking back at the life of Eileen Horner Blakely, who died December 30th at the age of 96.

“In today’s Navy … I certainly recommend women to do it because they’ve got all the opportunities in the world.” – Eileen Blakely

Eileen Blakely, is pictured below (bottom row, third from left) with Margaret Thorngate (bottom row, fifth from left) in school at Cedar Falls, then the Iowa State Teachers College. They were not acquainted at the time, but are now both Oregon residents, only three hours apart, and members of the statewide WAVES group.

“We met some people from all over. I had three people, WAVES roommates, that we stayed together or kept in touch ‘til they died.” – Margaret Thorngate

We’re continuing our series looking back at the life of Eileen Horner Blakely, who died December 30th at the age of 96.

Eileen had a moment of doubt when she was in boot camp. She remembers waking up at Hunter College in New York to a particularly rainy and overcast morning. The WAVES were marching to breakfast wearing “havelocks.” (A havelock is a covering, pictured below, that hangs down from a military hat for protection in rain or sun. Eileen calls it, “rain gear.”) She questioned her decision to enlist for a moment that morning.

“Clump clump clump. We probably looked like we were nuns from the nunnery or something. You know, dark clothes, marching along. And I looked over at the – there was the El train you know, high. You could see the lights of it. And I thought to myself, “What on earth did I sign up for? What did I think I was doing? Marching along at this ungodly hour to get breakfast? … And that was the one time when I wondered why I was where I was.”

First “chow” is served by the Red Cross at the Hunter College campus, as the facility is placed in service as the basic training center for Navy and Coast Guard women, 8 February 1943. (US Navy photograph)